Wirral Council had prosecuted the landlord for failure to apply for property licences under the council's selective licensing scheme. He had also failed to comply with improvement notices requiring him to remedy the poor condition of his properties.

The landlord was first prosecuted by the council for housing offences, including failing to carry out gas or electrical installation checks and failure to obtain property licences, in 2020 and was fined nearly £4000 after pleading guilty. Reportedly, council officers carried out a property inspection which found that "the majority of requested works required under previously-issued improvement notices had not even been started".

In 2021 he was prosecuted again and found to be guilty of housing offences and failure to obtain the required selective licences and was fined £7000.

The banning order was granted this month by the First Tier Tribunal and is hailed by Wirral Council as "the first banning order obtained by any council in the Liverpool City Region and currently the only banning order secured under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 in the Northwest region". It means that this landlord is banned from letting agent or property management work anywhere in England for a period of 3 years. If he breaches the order he could be subject to up to 51 months in prison and/or an unlimited fine or a civil penalty of up to £30,000. He has also been added to the national Rogue Landlord Database.

Cllr. Tony Jones, Chair of the council's Economy, Regeneration and Housing Committee, said " .... we will use all the powers available to stop criminal landlords from operating in Wirral".

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